I grew up in Clifton Hill, Missouri, on our family farm. I attended the University of Missouri, where I studied Agricultural Economics. I first got involved with Agricultural Future of America as a community scholar. Through AFA, I made the connections that led to my career with Edward Jones, where I started as a financial advisor in 2002. Today I serve as a Financial Advisor and Regional Leader leading 75 financial advisor teams across Central Missouri. Many of the families and business owners we serve in my practice and across Central Missouri are involved in agriculture, and agribusiness. I live in Boonville, MO with my wife, Leigh Anne. We have 2 children, Olivia and Owen. I also chair the Cooper County AFA Community Scholarship committee and am helping endow that scholarship so it supports students for generations.

Describe your AFA experience as a student.

AFA was one of the most formative experiences of my early adult life. I seized every opportunity AFA afforded me: scholarship, learning, mentorship, networking, leadership, and internship — I was an AFA Scholar, attended Leaders Conference all four years, served as an AFA Advisory Team member and completed 3 internships through AFA. Between the learning, the leadership opportunities, the networking and the mentorship, AFA shaped who I am. My leadership style and my philosophy of investing in others today both trace back to what I learned in those four years.

How did your AFA Student experience influence your career journey?

Honestly, AFA is the reason I have the career and the opportunities I do. I learned so much about myself and formed so many of my leadership philosophies through my AFA experience. Throughout my AFA experience I had the opportunity to participate in 3 internships in ag lending/financial services, and animal nutrition. Those experiences along with mentorship, and networking opportunities helped me discover a career that I love, I was well suited for and I could make an impact on agriculture in a rural community. AFA showed me how many paths there were in agriculture, and that finance, business and leadership roles are needing in agriculture and the rural communities that support agriculture.

AFA taught me that investing in people and building relationships are the greatest investments that can be made. That's how I've built my practice and how I lead my team today.

What is one AFA memory, moment or conversation that has stayed with you?

Russ Weathers took me to breakfast at Einstein Brothers Bagels in 2000. I was looking for his advice on life and career decisions I needed to make. He did not give me advice but better listened and only asked me questions that helped me understand and see the path for myself to be able to make those decisions.

Was there a person, mentor, peer or industry professional you met through AFA who influenced your path? What impact did they have?

Without question, Russ Weathers had a profound impact on my life and career.

Russ took a personal interest in me, saw potential in me early in my college experience and invested in me far beyond what was expected of his role, because he cared and believed in me.

He didn't just offer advice. He made time, asked questions, challenged my thinking, and helped me see possibilities for my future that I may not have seen on my own.

What stayed with me most was not any single lesson, but the example he set. Russ demonstrated what it looks like to intentionally invest in people. He showed me that leadership is not about position or title. It is about recognizing potential in others and helping them grow.

More than twenty years later, that lesson continues to influence how I lead at Edward Jones. Whether developing financial advisors, leading our region, or supporting local students through the AFA Community Scholarship in Cooper County, I often find myself trying to do for others what Russ did for me. His investment in me created a ripple effect that continues today.

In what ways do you stay connected or involved with AFA in your professional life? Why is that important to you?

I continue to stay involved with AFA by leading our Cooper County AFA Scholarship. We are one of the original AFA Community Scholar Programs that to this day continue to support 2-3 students every year. This is near to my heart as it was how I became introduced to AFA and gives me the opportunity to introduce successive generations of leaders to AFA.

Finish this sentence: Because of AFA, I…

I became the person, leader, husband, father, community member I am today. I have been able to make an impact on my family, community and those I lead. AFA did not impact one specific area of my life. The lessons I learned about seeing potential in others, nurturing that potential, investing in others has shaped how I see the world and interact with it in every facet of my life and in all the roles I play. One person seeing the potential in another and investing their time in a relationship with that person at the right time can impact them and change the course of their life.